“I think so.”
Mia nodded.
“You should ask him when he wakes up.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“I will.”
She left.
The man from the wall was transported under police escort because nobody could explain who he was or why he had been trapped inside a private residence.
Adrian went with him.
At 3:06 a.m., he sat inside Massachusetts General Hospital holding Julian’s ring.
He called one person.
Not Daniel Mercer.
His private attorney, Elena Park.
She answered immediately.
“Adrian?”
“I need you at Mass General.”
“What happened?”
He looked through glass at the treatment room.
“You will think I’m insane.”
“Try me.”
“My brother is alive.”
Silence.
Then:
“Where are you?”
“I told you.”
“No. Exact room.”
“Emergency, private consult area.”
“Do not call anyone.”
“I haven’t.”
“Security?”
“Police are here.”
“Company?”
“No.”
“Daniel?”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“No.”
Elena’s voice changed.
“Why?”
“Julian told me not to.”
Another silence.
“I’m coming.”
She arrived in twenty-one minutes.
Hair pulled back.
Black trousers.
Long navy coat.
No makeup.
Elena Park had represented Adrian personally for six years but deliberately did not work for Duca Meridian because she believed CEOs who used company counsel for personal matters eventually regretted it.
She walked into the private waiting room.
Adrian handed her the ring.
Elena looked.
“You’re sure?”
“I bought it.”
“Could be copy.”
“Inside engraving is mine.”
“You engraved it?”
“I scratched the D because jeweler engraved wrong first time. Julian refused repair because he thought it was funny.”
Elena turned ring.
A tiny line cut through the D.
She looked at him.
“Who is in room?”
“A man who looks like Julian after twelve years in hell.”
“Identification?”
“None.”
“DNA?”
“They drew.”
“Police statement?”
“Minimal.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Adrian stared.
“Don’t call Mercer.”
Elena sat across.
“Daniel Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Chairman Daniel Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“Your father’s best friend Daniel Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“The man whose house you spent half your childhood in.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Yes, Elena.”
“I need certainty.”
“So do I.”
“Did you call him?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because if Julian’s statement is delusional, Daniel can wait.”
“If it isn’t, Daniel must not know what you know until we know what you know.”
Adrian looked toward doors.
“Daniel sent me home tonight.”
“That means nothing.”
“He told me not to read pension schedules.”
“That may mean something or nothing.”
“Elena.”
“I’m not letting you decide from adrenaline.”
Adrian stood.
“I buried my brother.”
“I know.”
“I spent twelve years—”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
She looked at him.
He stopped.
Elena’s voice softened.
“No.”
“I don’t.”
“But if that man is Julian, then someone gave you twelve years of grief that belonged to something else.”
“Do not give them an advantage because you are angry before we know who ‘they’ are.”